Police launch manhunt for suspect in brutal murder of teen girl in St Andrew home
Published:Monday | February 17, 2025 | 9:38 AM
The police have launched a manhunt for a suspect in the brutal murder of 14-year-old Price Johnson. The teen was sexually assaulted and severely injured in an attack at her home in Palm Grove Court, St Andrew, on Thursday afternoon.
The Hunts Bay police report that around 1:59 p.m., Price was at home when a man entered her apartment, and screams were heard shortly after. A relative, alerted by the commotion, entered the residence and was later seen wrestling with the man, who managed to escape.
Price, a ninth-grade student of Haile Selassie High School in Kingston, was found in the apartment with severe wounds to her head and face. She was rushed to the hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment. Her relative, who also sustained injuries, was treated at the hospital.
The police are appealing to members of the public to assist in locating a suspect in connection to the incident. He has been named as Imani Lignott from a Crescent Road address off Spanish Town Road.
“We ask you to assist us in locating him so that the death of Price Johnson does not go in vain,” said Superintendent Damion Manderson, head of the St Andrew South Division.
Manderson is also urging members of the public to stop circulating nude images of the deceased.
“We appeal to members of the public to desist from circulating the nude picture of the victim...it is distasteful, it is unacceptable for us to be displaying such indiscretion,” he stated.
Member of Parliament for St Andrew South West, Dr Angela Brown Burke, expressed outrage and deep sorrow at the tragic loss.
“This is a heartbreaking and appalling act of violence against an innocent child,” she said.
“No family should have to endure such unimaginable pain, and no community should have to live in fear of such heinous acts. My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the bereaved family, friends, and residents of Palm Grove Court, who are struggling to come to terms with this devastating incident.”
The attacker is reported to be a person of unsound mind, and Brown Burke reiterated the urgent need for stronger mental health interventions and community-based support to prevent such tragedies in the future.